There's a Dinosaur in My Backyard: Part 2

Well, I'm just all over the place as far as painting goes. In the midst of working on a portrait piece I will be entering in a few art contests, I decided to take a break and finish the 3rd illustration from the "There's a Dinosaur in My Backyard" series. Here is the sketch I did a few months ago:



And here's the final painting:



To recap – the main character has made friends with the T-Rex and he takes her for a ride. This one is my favorite, well, because it's the "pay-off." But don't get me wrong, I don't read the last pages of books are watch endings to movies I haven't seen. Anyway, it was fun to paint. Maybe it's because painting a dino was new to me. Maybe it was the fact that the subject matter was happy and festive. Either way, I had a lot of fun doing this and don't know if I can resist doing the other two before I start back up on the portrait. Cheers and Happy Holidays!

Lost and Found

Back in '98, I got a bug to do a Skywalker family portrait. I hadn't painted Star Wars before – I just practiced with this piece:



It was "down and dirty" really quick and really small. Plus I wasn't happy with how I rendered Leia's face. So I worked harder on a larger one – carefully picking out the best reference photos and thinking a lot more on composition. Well, I worked so hard on this piece that I actually painted it twice. The first one really had me frustrated: the glazing was not what I wanted and left a lot of mottling on Leia's face and I didn't like the deep shadow in Luke's face. I must admit, that I was so unhappy with it that I tore it up. But recently, as I was looking through my old art, I came across the pieces to this "second draft." So I scanned them and pieced it all back together just to see what I discarded. Turns out I was missing a piece – so that is why the bottom corner is missing. I found it very interesting to revisit this painting, even if by chance. I'm glad I restarted. I much prefer the final version to this one. So, here is the reassembled Skywalker family portrait – the "second draft" on the top. The final version is on the bottom. I think that if there was one thing I wished I would have kept, it would be the background texture in the first one.

Time Flies When It's Close to the Holidays!

My my. How long has it been? I think it's this time of year that teacher are just gnawing at the bit to make it to Christmas break. The students are starting to "check out" and we have to be sure that we don't or there will be utter chaos! But in the midst of benchmarking, rehearsals, tree decorating, stage decorating, grades, and the number of other activities our children at other schools are involved in; there are those bright moments – the little gems that make it all worth it. It could be a student proud that his or her artwork was on display; or it could be the fruition of weeks of rehearsals that result in a magnificent show of talent. However small they may seem, they are the world to me as a teacher. It's the mark that progress is being made – that the children's esteem is a step stronger, their courage is raised, their talent is nurtured. And through it all, if I helped make a step forward, toward the positive, then it was worth the minor frustrations. It is fascinating to watch a child grow. It is heartwarming to watch them grow strong.

Here's a pic of the stage as it was produced by myself and the Art Club. Couldn't have been happier with – and for – these kids! Scroll down to compare to my sketch! Until next time!

Martians' First Thanksgiving

Periodically, SCBWI offers contests for writers and illustrators. They'll present an idea, and we interpret it. This month, the idea for illustrators is called "Thanks, But No Thanks!" The description: "Ever been dragged to a Thanksgiving dinner against your will? Well, so have the brother and sister duo of your new book. But nothing could have prepared them for Thanksgiving '08. For this month's Illustrator's Contest, show us what your characters are up against at this year's feast."

I wanted to play a little with irony. For these Martians, it is their first Thanksgiving on Earth. However, when they are presented with the golden juicy turkey, they are disgusted. What does a turkey resemble to them? Why would it cause such disgust? (And no, they are not vegetarian.)

Graphic Designer turned Art Teacher turned Set Designer

Artists can wear many hats. I started out as a Graphic Designer. Now I am a teacher. All the while I painted and illustrated. Now I am back to something I haven't done since my high school days. As a junior and senior in high school, I helped paint the backdrops for our musicals. I remember painting the backdrops to "Sweet Charity." Now, I am called upon to do some work for my school's Christmas program. The theme – "Santa, you have mail." Here is a small watercolor sketch I did as a design. Hopefully I can pull this off with a little help from the Art club and some parents. I get rather intimidated doing art at a large scale.

Found Time to Draw!

Yes. More progress has been made. I worked on a sketch yesterday developed from a few photos of my children. I wanted a more "candid" shot – though my son is looking right at the camera. But I still think I captured the essence of both my children. Molly is in the foreground – not because of importance, but I wanted to say something about her personality – she's lively, "bigger than life," a show-off of sorts and consistently happy. Jacob on the other hand, is less extroverted – her can be found standing behind someone a lot, not that there's anything wrong with that at all! He's just the soft-spoken one of the two. However, he's still laughing along with Molly. I wanted that to be an indicator that he's not devoid of humor or liveliness. In fact, there's more to him than he lets on. A complex one he is!

I think I will produce this at a larger size (most of my work is pretty small). And I'd like to experiment with application. But don't know how far I want to go outside my comfort level. I've been studying the work of a watercolor artist named Kim Johnson-Nechtman. I love the way she presents realism, but in a loose yet controlled style. Anyway, here is my final sketch:

Been too long

My goodness! How long's it been since I've written?! And what has happened in a month's time? Well, what's happened besides Halloween, my school's Fall Pumpkin Festival (where I face painted for the first time!) and of course, the Election? For one, I have finally started the Art Club for my school. Looks like the kids'll dig it. Our first assignment? Set design for this year's Christmas program. I have also been preparing for something I haven't done in awhile – a portrait of my kids – together. I realized as I was looking at my portrait work, that I have done paintings of each of them, but not together. The challenge is that I want this to be more that a mere rendering. So I will produce it to enter in the North Light Book cover competition. And after today, I think I may have found the perfect images to work with!! At the same time, I will be working on the SCBWI illustration contest for November. The theme: "Thanks, but no thanks!" More on that later! In the meantime, here are some pumpkins I carved (from the fake foam pumpkins) and displayed in my classroom.